Bloodied Ties
by Musafreen
Summary: Eventually, they understood each other too well. Jake and Rachel. A series of drabbles.
1. Commencement

**Commencement**

* * *

They'd been seeing each other for ages, possibly since they were gurgling infants. It happened when you were cousins, lived in the same city, and were all of two months apart in age. But the first time Rachel had really seen her cousin was when he was wailing over a badly shinned knee at a family picnic. At that, she'd sauntered upto him and informed him snootily that _she_ hadn't cried when she sprained her ankle. And obviously, that hurt more.

"You're such a _girl_." she'd told him.

"So're you." he sniffed back.

"But I _am_ a girl," she said smugly, "so it doesn't count."

He'd stared at his knee with a confused expression, and Rachel walked away, confident at having won the first round.


	2. Adoration

**Adoration**

* * *

There was a point in his life when he'd been a walking shadow of his brother. Thankfully, Tom didn't really mind that much as long as his friends weren't around.

The Dads and Sons camping trip (which included Rachel, of course) was the epitome of mindless adoration. Jake followed Tom, spoke like he spoke, acted like he acted, and glared when Rachel laughed at it.

But he had the last laugh when after two days Rachel became Tom's third shadow, and grudgingly admitted a big brother might not be that bad so long as he was like Tom. She asked him if she could adopt him, and Jake told her he'd pick Tom over her any day of his life.

Rachel shrugged, figured her little sisters would be adoring her soon enough, and decided that would be waay better.


	3. Attraction

**Attraction**

**

* * *

**

"Whoa, hold it," Rachel said in disbelief, "you're kidding with me, aren't you. Just because I threw a shoe at the cockroach-"

Cassie blushed darker. It had been bad enough _admitting_ it, for god's sake.

"Jake?" Rachel repeated, "As in my cousin Jake? The guy who argues about the merits of general Pickard over Captain whoever? You're _so_ kidding me."

Cassie opened her mouth to protest, but was predictably cut off.

"The same guy who hangs around with the whiny shortstuff?"

"Hey-"

"The same guy who once bawled over a freaking skinned knee?"

"When he was five?"

"_I _didn't."

"Yes Rachel, but not all of have a high pain threshold. I'm sure I cried at five too. And he's cute, and he's nice."

"He's not a vegetarian."

"Like you are. I'll live."

"Okay, okay. I notice the vehement defenses. _Jake,_" Rachel said, then sighed, "I guess it could've been worse. At least this way if you get married and have kids, I'll legitimately be aunt Rachel-"

"Rachel!"

"I can just imagine it. Cassie walking down the aisle. And on the other end there's Jake, with that big dopey grin on his face-"

She had to break off and concentrate on laughing when Cassie charged at her with a pillow.


	4. Crosscheck

**Crosscheck**

**

* * *

**

"Hello, Jake?"

Her voice was hoarse, and he heard her breath coming in whooshes. Rachel sounded like she'd run a few four-minute miles, which was a definite possibility because he was pretty sure he'd done the same.

"Yeah," he panted back, "it's me."

He could almost hear her collapse with relief.

"Oh thank god. Jake, I'm so sorry. I-"

"It's okay," he said, "I told you to run. It'd have been stupid for you to stay- oh god, Rachel, what the hell happened out there?"

"I don't _know, _how do you think I feel? I just abandoned my cousin to walking razor blades! And that _thing. _Jake, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, I'm fine. I'm just-" his stomach dropped, "Is Cassie all right? I called Marco and Tobias and they got home but-"

"She's okay, and I really have to call her and tell her the rest of you are," Rachel took another deep breath, "aliens. This is so damn freaky."

"Tell me about it." he agreed fervently.

"And that blue cube thing. Jake, what are we going to _do?_"

"You think I know?"

"Sorry. And I'm _so_ sorry about leaving you-"

"Rachel, chill."

"Swear never to do that again. Not ever. I promise."

"It's okay, Rachel we all freaked out," Jake heard a beep, "I think Marco's calling. Call Cassie, will you? And take care."

"Right. And I'm really sorry. Again."


	5. Coded

**Coded**

**

* * *

**

"Hey, heard anything from our-" Rachel cut off her sentence abruptly, remembering one of her cousins was the total slave of a bloodthirsty alien, "- our weird friend yet? You know, bird boy?'

There was a significant pause at the other end of the line, and he forced a laugh. Rachel's stomach sank.

"Yeah, I saw him last night. Guy was so into it, he couldn't even get out."

Oh god, please no. Not Tobias.

"So he's still down there at the cages?" she forced out a laugh too, trying hard not to burst into tears "dedicated, isn't he?"

"Oh, he got _out_," Jake said, and she could hear the obviously false cheer in his voice, "but it's like he's still trapped there."

Her knees buckled? A controller? Why couldn't he be a little clearer?

"Like he's a slave to the birds?"

"Nah, more like he is a bird," Jake said, a faint tinge of desperation creeping into his voice, "hey, listen, Rachel. You don't think that cleaning thing at Cassie's barn will take more than two hours, will it?"

A bird. Tobias was a bird.

"Probably," she told him, "what, it's over your limit or something?"

"Yeah." The sudden grimness of his tone confirmed it. "Definitely over the limit."


	6. Bugs

**Bugs**

* * *

"You know what scares me?"

"Yeah. You're afraid that someday we might have to morph into bugs."

_**-**__Animorphs #2, The Visitor_

* * *

"Phylum Arthropoda, which is to say, insects."

Rachel resisted the urge to hit her head on the table. Of all things that could've been in Biology today, it had to be _that._ The entire world was against her this week.

At least she wasn't alone in her misery. Next to her, Jake snapped out of his foray into sumberland just long enough for him to go a little green.

"Insects, you might have noticed, are all around you; cockroaches-"

Oh god.

"-mosquitoes-"

Ugh.

"-flies-"

Jake squirmed a bit and looked utterly miserable while she just stared at the blackboard, mouth slightly open. No way in hell was she going to-

"-and of course, the larval forms; caterpillars, nymphs, grubs and maggots to name a few."

If they'd been stunned before, they were now petrified. Utterly paralyzed. At least until the guy went on to talk about the feeding habits of insects, where desperation made Rachel gain new heights of mental courage.

"We're not doing it. Ever," she leaned sideways and hissed at Jake, "Do you hear me?"

"Uh-" Jake inched back slightly, his eyes dazed. He'd been that way since Mr. Radcliffe had casually mentioned the Caterpillar Wasp; a particularly vindictive kind of insect which laid eggs on caterpillars, which on hatching proceeded to eat the caterpillar alive.

"Maggots?! I'm _never_ doing maggots!"

Her voice rising an octave caught his attention, and he gave her a look, "Not now. Anyone could be watching."

Rachel forced herself to calm down. He was right, of course. But still-

"I'm never morphing a maggot," she told him, voice as low as it could possibly go, "that's just over the line. God."

"You seriously think I have a different opinion?" Jake shot back, glancing around, "Flies. I hate flies. They're just disgusting-"

"Jake, Rachel?" Mr. Radcliffe's voice made them jump, "anything you'd like to share with the class?"

They sheepishly nudged their chairs back into position.


	7. Transfer

**Transfer**

* * *

Jordan's screech echoes around the house, "Raaaachel, it's Jake!"

That's enough to make her drop everything she's been doing (and holding) and come charging to the front door. What the heck could be so bad he'd have to come in person to get her?

She slides to a stop by the door, and he must've seen the expression on her face, because he looks vaguely embarrassed.

"Uh. Hi." he says.

"What's wrong?" she asks immediately, ignoring Jordan's obvious curiosity.

"Nothing," he says quickly, "Just…how good are you with cats, exactly?"

She wonders if he's teasing her about the Fluffer thing and narrows her eyes, then notices the brown and ginger ball of fur he's carrying. It takes her a few seconds to recognize it from the verbal descriptions she'd been treated to.

"No."

"I need someone to take care of him," he says, "Tobias worries, and I can't keep him at my place because of Homer. Just for a while?"

"Why don't you just give it to Cassie?" she asks him in her best duh-voice.

"Because I thought you might want to keep him."

Oh.

She wordlessly gathers Dude up, and promises severe repercussions for Jordan if their mother hears anything about this.


End file.
